Deep-well pump



Sept. 28 1926.

L. G. GATES DEEP WELL PUMP Filed Feb. 25, 1925 INVENTOR BYWVM ATTORNEYS.

Patent-ea, sept. 2s, 192s.

UNITED sTATEs y 1,601,412 PATENT oFFlcE.

LEROY G. GATES, OF BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD OILCOMI- PANY, F SAN FRANCISCO, A CORPORATION 0F CALIFORNIA.

DEEP-WELL PUMP.

Application nled. February 25 1925. SeriaNo. 11,487.

My invention relates to double acting pumps especially adapted for usein pumping deep wells.

The principal object 0f my invention is 5 to provi-de a simple andpracticable double acting pump of such size that it may be lowered intoa well. This'limitation in re gard to size renders it practicallynecessary to use a .single cylinder pump, in which the stroke. Theadvantages of a doublel acting pump are obvious to those skilled in theart. It is more eicient than a single acting pump, for the reason thatno power is wastedk in stopping and starting the column of well fluid inthe discharge tubing string at each stroke, the liow of such fluid beingpractically continuous; and in the case of very deep wells, wherein theweight of the fluid column is relatively great, the saving in thisregard is considerable. Moreover, a double acting pump, to raise thesame quantity of fluid in a given time as a sinUle acting pump, requiresonly half as much fbrce to move its piston; therefore the pump can be'made much smaller, since the power is applied practically continuously,instead of intermittently with equally long periods of practical rest.This becomes extremely important in deep well pumps on account of thenecessarily small dimensions. since the bearings and moving parts can bemade relatively large in proportion tothe load. Finally, the practicallycontinuous flow of a. double acting pump produces a minimum ofturbulence in the iiuid stream, thereby attracting less sand from thewell into Vthe pump intake and, in the case of oil wells, producing theminimum of troublesome water emu lsion.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pump 1n which thedestructive effects of sand in the pump itself are reduced to a minimum.A still furthertobject is to provide a double acting pump 'having aminimum number of valves, which operate no more often than thecorresponding valves of a single acting pump. 1

My invention is herein illustrated and described as embodied in adeep-well pump, but it is to be understood that it may be adapted,without material change to other uses. Moreover, the form andconstruction ma be varied from that shown and described herein, withinthe limits of the piston works during both its up and its down claimshereto appended, without departing from the essential features of theinvention as set forth in said claims.

With this in view my invention will now be fully described withreference to the ac- 6c companying drawing, wherein- The ligure is alongitudinal section of a deep-well pump embodying my said inven- I nthe drawing, the reference numeral 1 06 deslgnates a pump cylinder orbarrel, and 2 is a tubular plunger working therein. The intake of thebarrel 1 is at its lower end, and is controlled by one or moresuitablecheck valves 3. Only one such valve is shown but it is o bvious that thenumber thereof is immaterlal. The lower end of the hollow plunger 2 isprovided with a travelling valve 4, which constitutes the dischargevalve of the pump. l

In the drawing I have shown a construction adapted for operation bymeans of sucker rods or other mechanism capable of exerting force inonly one direction, 1. e. upwardly. A tubular housing 1 is extended 80from the upper end of the barrel l, and a suitable compression spring 5is contained within said housing and adapted to force the plunger 2downwardly by pressure against its upper end. A suitable tension member,shown as a rod 6', which is understood to be attached to the lower endof the sucker rod string, not shown, is secured to the plunger 2,preferably by being connected with the cage 4 of the traveling valve 4.90 Said rod 6 supplies the force for driving the plunger 2 upwardly andfor compressing the spring 5', and said spring then supplies the forcefor moving sald plunger downwardly. Inasmuch as` the plunger 2 95 worksupon both strokes, the spring 5 must be suiiiciently powerful to handleits share of the load, and the force exerted upon the rod 6 on theup-stroke must be approxi mately twice that necessary to lift saidplunger, in order to compress said spring at the same time.

The plunger 2 surrounds and slides upon a fixed tube 8, which is securedto and eX- tends downwardly from the upper end or head 9 of the springhousing l', and communicates with the tubing string 10 for 'conductingthe pumped fluid to the surface. The lower end of the fixed tube 8 isopen to the interior of the plunger 2, as shown.

- clearance, shown at 13, between it and the plunger 2. Similarly, theinterior of said plunger is provided at its upper end with a port-ionof' reduced diameter, 1n which the packing 12 is situated, and belowsuch reduced portion, the bore of said plunger is of slightly increaseddiameter to provide a clearance 14 between it and the fixed tube 8 Theclearance spaces 13 and 14 prevent. the cutting of the surfaces of thebarrel, plungerl and tube by sand, by permitting such sand to settle,and such settling of the sand keeps it away from the packing 11 and 12,thereby preventing wear thereupon, and further preventing cutting of theouter surfaces of the plunger and the fixed tube.

The operation of my pump will be apF parent from the :foregoingdescription and the drawing. Assuming the barrel 1 to be full, the downstroke of the plunger 2 displaces a quantity of fluid equal tothclvolume or effective displacement of 'said plunger, suchquantity offluid being forced up through the discharge valve 4 into said plunger,and of this fluid an amount equal to the effective displacement of theplunger 2 less that of the fixed tube 8 is forced up through said tubeand into the tubing string 10. The up stroke of the plunger 2 draws afresh charge of fluid into the barrel 1, and forces the fluid containedwithin said plunger out through the fixed tube 8 and the tubing string10.

Thus fluid is forced up, or discharged, upon both the up and downstroke, and by properly relating the inside and outside diameters of theplunger 2, and t-he outside diameter of the fixed tube 8, the relativequantities of fluid pumped during the two strokes can be suitablyproportioned to supply a practically constant flow.

1t is to be noted that the double action of my pump, i. e. its abilityto displace fluid upon the down as well as the up stroke, depends uponthe fact that the upper end of the tubular plunger is not exposed to thepumped fluid. There is, therefore, no negative displacement of fluid bythe upper end of the plunger to balance or offset the positivedisplacement of its lower end within the barrel 1, as is the case in theordinary types of hollow well pump plungers, which work only upon the upstroke. rlie only negative displacement which does occur on the downstroke and which only partially offsets the positive displacement of theplunger within the barrel is that caused by the fixed tube 8 within saidplunger, but by making the wall of the plunger sufii'ciently thick inproportion to the outside diameter of said tube, such negativedisplacement becames relatively small in proportion to the positivedisplacement ofi' the plunger within the barrel.

In other words, the double action of my pump ldoes not depend upon thedisplacement of a solid piston reciprocating within a cylinder in theusual manner, but is accomplished by means of three concentric tubes,the inner and outer tubes, i. e. the fixed tube v8 and the barrel lbeing stationary while the middle tube, i. e. the plunger 2,reciprocates in the manner of a piston. The pumping action on the upstroke is the result of the upward movement of the liquid filled plungertube 2, together with the check valve 4 which prevents the return of theliquid to the barrel 1. The pumping action on the down stroke is due tothe displacement of liquid within the barrel 1 by the mass of theplunger tube 2, the check valve or valves 8 preventing the return of theliquid into the well.

1t is also to be noted that my lunger construction lends itselfparticularly well to the incorporation of the anti-sanding featuredescribed above.

Not only does the double action of the plunger result in less turbulenceof the well fluid at the intake, thereby causing less sand to be drawninto the barrel than would be the case in a single acting pump, but byproviding the clearance spaces 13 and 14, and by positioning the valvesat the lower ends of the barrel and plunger respectively, such sand asis drawn into the barrel settles away from the portions of the pump inwhich it might do harm, i. e. the rubbing surfaces in the regions of thepackings 11 and 12, and is carried out in the fluid stream through thecentral tube 8.

Finally, it should be noted that there is but one set of valves,comprising one inlet and one discharge, and that. these valves operateonly once for each complete, i. e. up and down, stroke, or no more oftenthan in the ordinary single acting pump.

1 claim 1. A well pump comprising a barrel having a fluid inlet at itslower end; a tubular plunger operable in said barrel; a dischar e valvecarried in the lower end of said plunger; a fixed member extending intosaid plunger from its upper end and having a fluid discharge passage incommunication with the interior thereof; a spring surrounding said fixedmember and acting against the upper end of said plunger to move the samedownwardly; and a, tension member extending through said xed member andconnected with the plunger in the region of its lower end for movingsaid plunger upwardly.

2. A well pump comprising a barrel having a fluid inlet in the regionvof its lower end; a tubular plunger operable within said barrel, saidplunger having a shoulder above vthe upper end of said barrel; a fixedtubular member extending into said plunger from its upper end forconducting the pumped fluid therefrom; a tension member extendingthrough said xed'tubular member and connected with said plunger forlifting it; and a spring surrounding said ixed tubular member andbearing against the shoulder of said plungr for moving it downwardly.

3. A we pump comprising a barrel havmgl a fluid inlet in the region ofits lower en an extension rising from the upper end of said barrel andprovided with an upper head; a hollow plunger operable within saidbarrel and provided with a shoulder lying within said' extension; a.fixed tubular member secured to the upper head of said extension andextending into said plunger for conducting the pumped fluid therefrom; a

, tension member extending through said fixed tubular member andconnected with said plunger for lifting it; and a spring surroundingsaid fixed tubular member and positioned within said extension betweenthe head thereof and the shoulder of said plunger for moving the latterdownwardly.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LEROY G. GATES.

